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Drake gets key to the city at NBA all-star celebrity game

Mayor John Tory gave Drake the golden key prior to the celebrity game. “This is one of the greatest moments of my life, if not the greatest,” said Drake

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Toronto native Drake accepted the key to the city Friday from Mayor John Tory. In a ceremony before the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, the music star said he felt a 'new purpose,' and urged Torontonians to be proud of the city.

Drake admitted he was nervous. But when Mayor John Tory opened the little box and pulled out the golden key to the city, “the world’s most famous Torontonian” accepted it with a grin on his face.

“This is one of the greatest moments of my life, if not the greatest,” said Drake, hip hop auteur and perennial booster of Toronto, his hometown.

“We have something extremely special in this place,” he said. “I will never stop loving this city. I will never stop representing this city.”

Of course, Drake, née Aubrey Drake Graham, was already one of the focal points of the all-star weekend, before he accepted the city key, which Tory called “the highest honour we can give.” The musical staple of millennial Toronto is credited with bringing some cool credibility to the Raptors franchise.

Named the team’s “Global Ambassador” in 2013 — effectively a living-breathing-rhyming mascot paid for his influence on legions of fans — the rapper is frequently seen lounging in his court-side seat at the Air Canada Centre, just at the end of the home team’s bench.

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But on Friday, just ahead of the NBA all-star weekend celebrity game at Ricoh Coliseum, his status as a civic hero was cemented at the offset of a weekend where the basketball world is centred on “the six.”

Rap star Drake accepts the key to the city from Toronto Mayor John Tory prior to the NBA all-star celebrity game at Ricoh Coliseum on Friday night. (Rick Madonik / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

He called Toronto a “cultural mosaic” and said being bequeathed with the key has inspired him to be a role model for youth in Toronto.

After the key presentation, and a quick hug with the mayor, whom Drake called “my man JT,” the floor was cleared and the rapper took his spot at the Team Canada bench, where he was to coach the actors and athletes from this country in their “celebrity game” versus their American counterparts.

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